Pennsylvanians lose again with the state's new Republican budget

July 11, 2014 8:38 PM

Winston Churchill said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” Our elected officials in Pennsylvania did neither.

As another budget season concludes, I’m amazed and angry that with the commonwealth facing a $1.5 billion budget deficit the governor and the Republican-led House of Representatives and Senate presented a budget with zero legitimate revenue raisers.

What a joke — except that their cluelessness, their failure to know how a majority of their constituents live and their lack of courage to act on behalf of the shared common good have no one laughing.

I live on a fixed income. The only budget I’ve had to balance is my own. I live in the real world, and I could never and would never balance a budget on magic numbers and make-believe revenue. Why such clear-cut options as Medicaid expansion and taxing the gas drillers were not enacted is political gamesmanship and a failure. Access to health care coverage and necessary human services is not a game; they, like those who benefit from them, matter.

In this election year, there will be much talk about a vision for Pennsylvania. The governor and Legislature have looked no further ahead than, at best, six months. Shame on them for having no courage and no concern for the citizens of the commonwealth.

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